Girl got yarns

I went to pick up my yarns yesterday. Worsted yarn (a fine wool yarn) and silk yarn (more like thread, because it's embroidery silk). I am so psyched to get started with these, just look at them! So pretty...!

There's no party like a fancy dress party

I love, love, love fancy dress parties!

   I don't have enough positive words for how much I love them. I never say no to going to one but am personally absolute shit at arranging them. I've tried in the past to enthuse my fellow nerds but to no avail, some of them just can't be bothered. Thus, I have had to accept the fact that other people do not in fact share my love for fancy dress parties.

   BUT COME ON! How can you not like dressing up in weird clothes?? With a little bit of imagination there's no stopping the fun.

Who wants to play with Wednesday Addams...?

   So I was (FINALLY) invited to a fancy dress party this Saturday and since I'm a huge nerd I had a costume lying around just waiting to be worn. No joke. I had so much fun it's almost indecent. Met a lot of new people which is also great, but... playing dress-up! Yay!

In need of new silks

I decided to go to The Medieval Week again this year. And, lo and behold, also managed to score vacation time over that week. Unexpected, in that surprisingly wonderful way.
   Subsequently, I want to create something new for my medieval wardrobe. A new dress. Lacing in front, buttons in arms. Edge weave by the button holes for more durable edges... ideas that are like music to my ears.
   I've ordered both wool and silk yarns. Last I heard they've shipped and are on their way. I've missed working with these materials and the methods required will keep my hands busy. I will probably complain and moan about the world of hurt my hands will be in, but it will be sooooo worth it.
   So lets get started.

Here, have a laugh

This cracked me up and made me want to share. Ryan Reynolds is a treasure.

In other news: Fuck you YouTube

In other words: YouTube has deemed all things LGBT+ unsuitable material to anyone under the age of eighteen all the while leaving pure pornographic, violent, racist, and misogynist material to be seen by anyone. How is this still an issue? I don't understand. How can it be seen as worse for trans* (and other gender non-conforming) kids to find support and role models on YouTube than them killing themselves in lack of same support?  (Psst. Go support Chase on Patreon.)

Participating with the TRHPS gang

I don't remember exactly when it was that I first experienced the madness of The Rocky Horror Picture Show but I know very well how much I loved it, because it stuck with me and never failed to bring a smile to my face at any point of recollection. It was about ten years ago that I discovered this audience participation business going on with cult musicals as I saw a Swedish film critic go to a The Sound of Music Audience Participation dressed up as a nun. The dude in question is over six feet tall, is a total metal head with the long hair and HUGE sideburns but he looked as if he had a blast and a half singing along with "The Hills are Alive".

   It was inspiring.

   Also funny as fuck.

   And I wanted to do it too.

   Never were a huge fan of The Sound of Music though.

   Which brings us back to that cult hit Rocky Horror.

   Last week I did my first (but I hope not the last) The Rocky Horror Picture Show Audience Participation. Dressed in a fancy vest and jacket, extravagant bow tie, silver shoes, and flamboyant (and extremely cheap) pink feather boa I nervously entered the theatre with a friend on my arm and was welcomed by what I can only describe as our 'Fellow Transylvanians'. A whole horde of them. Now it was our turn to have a blast and a half through the film and then disperse to our separate homes. That whole thrilling experience only to be left staring off into space in longing for the next time we can meet up and do the Time Warp together.

   Just wow. Highly recommended.

The Hutt Recommends: the Caves of Steel

The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
The first of the Robot novels (of which I, Robot is number 0.1).

Simply put, it's a murder mystery set a few thousand years in the future.
   A more roundabout way of describing it would be to say that humans have colonised space and created artificial intelligence. On Earth this means everything from overpopulation, ever imminent starvation and extreme pollution to robots obviously robotic-looking taking over simpler duties in workplaces. Discord is growing. In Spacer colonies it means bureaucracy is king and empathy is dead - humans with any gene defect are euthanised as to avoid the troubles so rampant on Earth - and advanced humanoid robots are the latest secret project.
   Then: murder.
   A Spacer is murdered on Earth and Detective Elijah Baley is called to the scene to solve the murder before the partner he's forced to take on does. I present to you: humanoid robot R. Daneel Olivaw, the latest of Spacer technology. In fact, so recently out of production that nearly no one knows he's a robot (indicated by the 'R' before his name which Baley conveniently leaves out whenever introducing him to anyone seeing as no one likes/trusts robots).
   They set forth on a journey together not only solving the case but also a much deeper political plot.

   This is classic scifi at its best! We're presented to big questions on existence, the fear of tomorrow, what it means to be human, and what makes a good society. It's philosophical and deep yet easy to take in without getting lost along the way or sacrificing the plot only to present some strange view on the human condition.
   Caves of Steel is also obviously a child of its time and being first published in 1954 means that I had a hard time finding any female characters, even more of a hard time finding women with any sort of agency. There's Baley's wife, but she's not of much use to the story. After that the list of female characters abruptly ends and yes, of course that sad fact makes me grumble but I have to admit to preferring this kind of representation in classic scifi (which is barely any at all) instead of the kind I've found to be rampant in a lot of Heinlein's scifi where women are either vapid and useless or manipulative whores (Door into Summer (publ. 1957) and Time Enough For Love (publ. 1973), being the worst of what I've read so far, jeez... I couldn't even finish Time Enough it was so bad). Then on the other hand, I expect so much more out of anything written after the 1980's (thank the gods for Carl Sagan) than I do out of what came before (e.g. the Robot novels). I desperately need people of my generation to be better than their predecessors and write better (ie MORE INCLUSIVE) fiction but that does not mean that I'll excuse bad representation in classic scifi.

Fuck this planet

Dude, I need a new job.

MOONLIGHT

I laughed for fifteen years when I woke up yesterday to find this video in my Tumblr feed. Look at all of their reactions. It's beautiful. Moonlight is the rightful winner, there was never any question about it. Mahershala Ali got his Oscar and so did Viola Davis. 


   And by the by, the Academy can go suck a big bag of dicks for giving both abusive creep Casey Affleck and racist human waste Mel Gibson awards all the while spouting anti-Trump rhetoric. Like, really? And how the hell could the Oscar for Best Make-Up go to the mess that was Suicide Squad? Eugh.

BOKREA

Again it's that lovely time of year: the Great Book Sale.

Or simply "Bokrea" as we say in Sweden.

   I constantly tell myself I have to restrict my book purchases to the Great Book Sale and maybe a comic book now and then, but then I go on to fail miserably because I find a book that I simply "must have" or step foot in a second-hand shop that stock some poor old forsaken books in some dusty corner (I'm saving them, I swear).

   This year is no exception; I had set aside some money for the Sale and was thrilled to see that what was left after I had filled my bags was enough to buy food to last for the remainder of the month before pay day. A nice surprise as I was prepared to live on tea. I love it when I surprise myself.

The catch of the 2017 Great Book Sale.

   I rarely read anything not scifi or fantasy so my obvious store of choice was Science Fiction Bokhandeln (it's like the Swedish equivalent of Forbidden Planet) not only because of the books but also because of all the other nerds I get to share a limited space with.

   It would seem I now need new bookcases.

I (kinda) stand corrected

Remember a few weeks ago when I was complaining about award shows not being diverse enough when it comes to their nominees? I think I ought to correct my statement. At least a little. Nominations are still mostly male and white but the winners I've heard most about so far...
   Hidden Figures and Moonlight have been taking audiences by storm and have rightfully started walking off with prize after prize after prize. I have yet to see Hidden Figures but anything with Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe and Taraji P. Henson just got to be good. Mahershala Ali and Janelle Monáe appears in both movies mentioned above and Janelle won the Breakout Performance award from AAFCA  for her performances while Mahershala won a SAG Award not long ago for Moonlight. Hidden Figures won a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
   This is a good thing. I like this.

Happy Single's Awareness Day!

Because fuck you Valentine. For so many reasons. Foremost reason being that you suck.

Hanna from Rat Queens by Johnny Rocwell

Getting shit done

   In the last week I've been strangely productive and got a lot of shit done. I've ironed clothes, mended some other clothes, made modification to some additional clothes so they would suit me better (you know, so I'd actually wear them). I've cleaned up the clutter and trash that has silently accumulated around me while I've been less than enthusiastic about life in general or cleaning in particular. I've hoovered. I've cooked. This just goes to show that there's nothing like housework to put some bothersome thoughts out of one's mind. Procrastination has always been a favourite occupation of mine and I've found housework to be super effective for putting off tough phone calls, messy feelings and gym visits. As a result I haven't made any of the rather important calls I set out to make, I haven't quite processed becoming single again and I haven't been to the gym in three weeks.

   But hey, at least there's no Vogon poetry. So I've got that going for me. Which is nice.

Category: 'dafuq just happened?'

The strangest thing happened during work today and I can't get it unstuck from the grey goop that is my mind.
   I work in a shop and inevitably end up having checkout duty. So far, so good. I've had some very interesting discussions right there at the checkout desk but I have to say... I didn't wake up this morning expecting to FUCKING SMELL A CUSTOMER today. I swear, sometimes my job... hands me the weirdest situations to deal with.
   A dude is going through checkout, he's just payed for his stuff when he suddenly goes "this is an odd question but do I smell good?" No shit Sherlock, it's odd but I can't be arsed to feel embarrassed in these situations so without hesitation I leaned in to smell him. He smelled good. I asked him if he had a new perfume on. "Yes!" he beams (and it's a very nice smile) "It's pine!" I'm enjoying the moment we're sharing and the golden opportunity to take the piss out of him that has presented itself when I realise that the other 10 or so customers (try 20, it was a Friday afternoon) standing within earshot of us are all giggling (and are also waiting to pay for their shit and leave), but again: I really can't be arsed to feel embarrassed. Besides, I'm having too much fun. I wish him a very nice weekend and he leaves, still smiling.
   I fucking live off of these moments. People are generally just a bunch of bastards but there are still individuals that spin shit into gold. They make up for all the other crap I have to go through.
   GOLD I'm telling you.

It's already February people

I don't know who it was that stole January but gone it is and February is upon us. I'm looking forward to experience how the days grow longer the further into the year we get because as of right now I'm sick and tired of short days and an eternity of darkness.

SELFIE TIME.
Sometimes I'm all cool and suave...

But most of the time (7 out of 10 pictures) I'm just... not all there... :

C'mon. You all have those pictures. Not all selfies are good selfies but they're also good selfies. Because they're still you.
And you're awesome.